Urban Land Institute Nashville Honors Two Vanderbilt Projects with Second Annual Excellence in Development Awards
Press release reprinted from the Urban Land Institute Nashville District Council’s web site.
CONTACT: Nancy DeKalb
615-218-9655
ndekalb@kvbpr.com
Nashville, Tenn— May 21, 2009 — The Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Nashville District Council honored 11 area development projects with Excellence in Development Awards last night at the Noah Liff Opera Center.
Award entries represented projects from the private and public sector and from commercial and residential areas.
The winning projects were recognized for innovation in land use and design, design excellence, contribution to the community, reflection of the regional or neighborhood character, public/private partnership, environmental sensitivity and financial viability.
Following are the winners, and corresponding comments from the nationally recognized, out-of-town judges:
Downtown YMCA: A winning display of reinvestment by a nonprofit; the original and new buildings blend seamlessly; a valuable resource for the community; and the redesign is sensitive to its context/neighbors.
Franke Corporate Headquarters and Distribution Center: Tremendous economic impact (tax base and employment) to its middle Tennessee location (Rutherford County); extraordinary design aesthetic; prime ‘best practices’ example of the benefits of a public/private development.
Hutton Hotel: Creative redevelopment into an under-served use; creates a strong gateway presence; thoughtful attention to construction and design details; retrofitted a non-descript mid-century use with sustainable features at every turn.
J. Henry Hale Apartments: Demonstrates ‘best practices’ in affordable housing, which should be a model; made an unlivable barracks style into an attractive place to live; now this is a neighborhood; the influence on the broader neighborhood’s stability is vital.
Martin Corner: The impact on the metro tax rolls from this redevelopment is extraordinary; a great variety of new construction, adaptive reuse, renovation that are compatible with, and that enhance, the fabric of the adjacent neighborhood; the difference between before and after is remarkable; is a smooth bridge between one district of reinvestment and another.
Nissan Americas Corporate Facility: Shows sensitive, thoughtful development can be done well in a suburban campus; priority given to comprehensive sustainable practices; demonstrates that exceptional design can benefit the building owner, workers and community.
Pinnacle at Symphony Place: A landmark on the horizon for a new level of development downtown; clearly a modern icon for the city’s skyline; a powerful demonstration of private investment in Nashville’s core; doesn’t neglect sustainability in its exemplary design.
The Midtown Millworks: One of the best examples of conversion for a nonprofit office condo I’ve ever seen of its kind; noteworthy community-use tenants; impressive reinvestment in fragile corridor; sustainable considerations are substantial; interior spaces are attractive and reflect users.
Vanderbilt Health/One Hundred Oaks: It’s all about the educational value of what can be done in adaptive reuse; a strong demonstration on the influence that good development can have on the broader community; shows best practices lessons for adaptive reuse for a profitable development with a public good.
Vanderbilt University Commons Center: Its lessons on green development show how it can be done, should be done from start to finish; demonstrates best practices on community building for students and the broader university, and with the broader neighborhood and community; architecturally compatible with the historic elements of the adjacent historic Peabody College campus of Vanderbilt University.
West End Station: This is how workforce, mixed-income housing should be done; architectural details and green space add value to the project; the influence of reinvestment in the neighborhood is evident; the right product at the right price; kudos to rectifying a former environmentally blighted lot.
The Urban Land Institute (ULI) is a nonprofit research and education organization supported by its members worldwide. The ULI Nashville District Council’s priority is to serve as a convener and collaborator, providing a forum for exchange of ideas and education about best practices in land use for Middle Tennessee’s public, private, educational and nonprofit real estate and land-use community. It has a diverse membership of 200 professionals including architects, land planners, engineers, developers, Realtors®, public officials, academicians and attorneys.
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